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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/29278332">The Prisoner (Lost Without You Remix)</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Neverever/pseuds/Neverever'>Neverever</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Avengers Assemble (Cartoon)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Abuse, Hurt Tony Stark, M/M, Prisoner of War, Protective Steve Rogers, Rescue</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2021-02-20</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-02-20</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-13 04:21:27</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>2,468</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/29278332</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Neverever/pseuds/Neverever</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>The Beyonder rescued Tony, but to what end? And will Tony ever see Steve again?</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Steve Rogers/Tony Stark</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>4</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>81</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Collections:</b></td><td>2021 Captain America/Iron Man Remix Exchange</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>The Prisoner (Lost Without You Remix)</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><ul class="associations">
      <li>For <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/users/masterlokisev159/gifts">masterlokisev159</a>.</li>


        <li>
            Inspired by

            <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/24698515">Not without you</a> by <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/users/masterlokisev159/pseuds/masterlokisev159">masterlokisev159</a>.
        </li>

    </ul><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>This fic was written for the 2021 Cap-IM Remix Exchange. I was matched with masterlokisev159. I changed the perspective and the scope of the story, as well as the abuse Tony encounters. I hope you like this remix of your work!</p><p>Thank you to the beta for the wonderful work.</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>They told him that home was gone. That all he knew had been wiped away into dust. That Steve was dead.</p><p>Tony didn’t know what to believe anymore. He knew in his heart that Steve couldn’t be dead, that somehow he would feel it deep down in the depths of his soul if Steve was gone.</p><p>Not that Tony was a mystic or a wizard or had the vaguest understanding of how those people moved through the world. His world was built on the foundations of math, physics and engineering, measurable and observed facts, experiments and practical experiments. His understanding of the world told him that he wouldn’t know, couldn’t know, unless someone told him or he saw it himself.</p><p>The Beyonder, a gregarious, odd Jersey Shore knock-off, had gently broken the news to Tony when he found him.</p><p>He’d found Tony trapped in a corner of the dimension he’d been exiled to. Tony had run for days as the dimension folded and twisted in on itself, trying to find safety or escape. He’d come so close to reopening the portal back home. Then it all went poof.</p><p>The one thing that had kept him hopeful was Steve’s deep, encouraging voice that reached through the void and filled Tony with warmth and hope. He loved Steve, had been in love with him long before he could put a name to the feeling. Just before the Ultron disaster, Tony had been scouting out jewelry stores and perfect proposal ideas. Steve’s voice grounded Tony, reminding him why he was fighting so hard to get home.</p><p>Then Beyonder appeared out of nowhere. “Oh, an engineer! This is amazing!” </p><p>Clutching the last of his tools, Tony was whisked away to the Beyonder’s massive complex. He was given clothes, food, rooms of his own and all that he could desire in his workshop.</p><p>Tony at the time of his rescue had felt like the last bit of butter scraped across dry bread. He’d been fueled by hope and adrenaline far more than by food and sleep. Once given a bit of comfort, he lost all the steel scaffolding him together.</p><p>“What’s going on?” Tony asked. Guacamole dip had never tasted so good.</p><p>The Beyonder shrugged. “The multiverse is collapsing in on itself. I barely was able to save you, but here you are.”</p><p>A warning bell rang distantly in Tony’s brain. Warning him that The Beyonder was not what he seemed and that there would be a price to pay. Tony ignored it -- he could handle anything. He was in a good spot to launch his return home. “If I got back home, the Avengers could do something about the collapse.”</p><p>The Beyonder’s face fell. “Ah, sorry, Tony, your friends -- they’re dead. The earth is gone.”</p><p>Tony didn’t want to believe him. In between the tasks he did for the Beyonder, he rebuilt his interdimensional radio. He sent out radio signals like floating lanterns into the night sky, carrying his love for Steve into the great beyond.</p><p>No answer. Not the first day, not the second, not in the next week.</p><p>The Beyonder saw his radio and arched an eyebrow at Tony as he twirled the dials and bent the casing. The delicate mechanism crumbled under his rough hands. “They’re all dead. Even Captain America, if that’s who you’re worried about.”</p><p>Tony nodded and threw himself into his work. He had no complaints, all his bodily needs were met. His workshop was warm, and he had all the tools, servers and parts he could need. Like he was a kept man or pet or a toy.</p><p>The Beyonder loved his toys, but never treated them well. </p><p>Tony had been too worn out by fatigue and loss to care at first. He was lost without Steve. Nihilism permeated his whole existence. The Beyonder asked and Tony strove to do. He built fantastical contraptions to make toast or hold orbs or catapult rolls down the table. The work kept him occupied so he wouldn’t curl up in a ball, dazed by grief and pain.</p><p>Then Tony missed a deadline.</p><p>“I’m not sure you’re up to this,” The Beyonder said in his boisterous voice.</p><p>Tony looked down at the parts of the orrery The Beyonder had asked for. Make me a solar system, he’d commanded. “Ah, give me an hour or two.”</p><p>“I wanted it done by dinner tonight.” The Beyonder threw his arms open. “It’s the dinner entertainment. I don’t ask for much, Tony, you know that.”</p><p>Tony ran a hand through his hair. “I’m working on the balance --”</p><p>“I SAID, I WANTED IT TODAY. AT SEVEN.” The Beyonder grabbed Tony against the wall and shoved a watch into his face. “WHAT TIME IS IT?”</p><p>“Eight?”</p><p>“IT’S SURE THE HELL NOT SEVEN.”</p><p>The Beyonder dropped Tony to the floor. Shaken, Tony got up to his feet. “I said I’d get it done.”</p><p>“Don’t bother,” The Beyonder said. “I’ll have something else tomorrow.”</p><p>When Tony cleaned up for bed that night, he saw the line of bruises along his back. </p><p>After that, the honeymoon was over. Tony was given a task in the morning. If he didn’t meet a deadline, he didn’t get food or coffee. Or worse, food was thrown at him. If The Beyonder was displeased by what Tony had built, he would break Tony’s creation into pieces at his feet.</p><p>It was made very, very clear that he was dependent on The Beyonder for everything in his life. </p><p>The days turned into drudgery. He now loathed waking up in the morning to build anything. His fingers shook as he picked up tools. Inspiration was fugitive and lacking. Each new task filled him with dread.</p><p>He’d been able to build his very first armor in a cave from scraps. But he’d been desperate to live then. To fight. To build. Fueled by a fire in his belly stoked by anger and determination and an iron will to live.</p><p>The one love in his life besides Steve had now been taken away from him.</p><p>The Beyonder tossed out careless comments about Tony, about his failures to stop Ultron. “If you’d only stopped Ultron, you’d be home now. You know, if your home still existed.”</p><p>At night, he tossed and turned, sore from bruises and cuts and overworked muscles. His soul tore from unseen but deeply felt wounds. Then the darker thoughts rushed in, telling him if he’d only fought harder, he could have saved Steve from whatever was destroying the universe, planet by planet. If he’d hadn’t been such a failure, if he’d only done more.</p><p>It didn’t matter -- he couldn’t reach Steve and he probably, no, definitely deserved his miserable existence now.</p><p>When Tony didn’t focus on his work, he hallucinated about the team. That they would be coming to rescue him. That Steve would walk right in that door, with coffee and the key to Tony’s freedom. He loved and hated the idea -- Tony had always been the one to rescue himself. But in his despair, he wouldn’t say no to Steve carrying him away in a bridal carry to the quinjet.</p><p>Steve wasn’t coming. </p><p>Steve was dead. </p><p>That’s what The Beyonder said. He’d been right about everything so far. Tony couldn’t find a way to poke holes through the information that The Beyonder was feeding Tony and the rest of his entourage.</p><p>“You’d think that someone would try to find one of the great heroes of Earth. But I have you right here.” The Beyonder smiled at Tony, offering him another drink.</p><p>The Beyonder held dinners to show off the treasures he’d picked up through his travels in the multiverse. Tony was often the only guest. The Beyonder liked to remind Tony than he wasn’t like the others -- the supervillains The Beyonder was also collecting. They were employees, Tony an honored guest.</p><p>“You could try to look happier, smile more. It’d brighten the place up.”</p><p>Tony knew he looked like hell -- dark circles under his eyes, his hair shaggy, his clothes baggy. Even during his all-nighters back in his earlier life, he managed to look halfway decent. But now he was a glass statue, fragile and easily breakable, like a damaged figure from Hulk’s collection of crystalline animals. Tony pushed his hair back and attempted to sit up straighter.</p><p>“You need a break,” The Beyonder mused. “A couple of days off to recharge.”</p><p>Tony knew he lied. There would never be rest until Tony was utterly broken.</p><p>“That sounds great,” he replied.</p><p>“Hey, Tony, look at this weird thing I took from the Korbintes, you’ll appreciate it.”</p><p>A while later, Tony was summoned to the viewing room. Numb and dispirited, he’d been so buried in work that he hadn’t seen The Beyonder in a few days. So he wasn’t aware of The Beyonder’s growing unease and rising demands. Tony noticed the anxious and tense group of supervillains on the side of the room, </p><p>“Ah, Tony, there you are. Bring Tony a chair.”</p><p>One of the nameless servants created by The Beyonder brought a chair for Tony. The Beyonder barely glanced over at Tony, instead he focussed on the screens floating in front of him and on the wall.</p><p>Tony had glimpsed the barren landscape beyond the walls of The Beyonder’s Citadel a few times. He had calculated that it would be impossible to escape unless he had specialized equipment. </p><p>This time, though, he saw a fleet of skycycles heading towards The Citadel. Tony knew some of the people -- Hawkeye, Hulk, Dr. Strange and in the air, Falcon. He hadn’t seen his friends in forever. They were almost unrecognizable.</p><p>The person at the head of the fleet was a man in red, white and blue. </p><p>It couldn’t be Steve. Tony refused to believe it.</p><p>“LOOK,” The Beyonder boomed. “I TOLD YOU TO STOP THEM.”</p><p>MODOK groused. “If you gave us better weapons, we could. But you and your toy just give us trash.”</p><p>Tony’s remaining blood drained from his face. The Beyonder had him making weapons to fight his friends. </p><p>“I GIVE YOU THE FINEST WEAPONS AND YOU DO NOTHING WITH THEM. BEGONE,” The Beyonder roared. “FIGHT! OR ELSE THE ARENA!”</p><p>The fleet was gaining in speed. His friends would be at the front gate in a matter of minutes. Tony looked over at the panicking supervillains. He hadn’t heard about the Arena, but they had. </p><p>The nameless servants grabbed at Tony, pulling him along twisting corridors deeper and deeper into the citadel. No dank dungeon for Tony, but a gilded birdcage made with vibranium. The Beyonder would make sure he could never escape.</p><p>Tony sat, stunned, in an armchair, waiting for his fate. </p><p>Steve. Steve was coming for him. </p><p>Why had he believed a single thing that The Beyonder told him? Tony had underestimated the guy. He looked and sounded like a refugee from a terrible reality show.</p><p>He would have known if Steve was dead. Steve would never, ever give up on finding Tony, death and dismemberment and freezing in ice be damned.</p><p>Finding a spark within him that had almost died out, Tony sprang into action. He could hear the distant sounds of fighting from within the Citadel. He had to do something. The Beyonder had the power to wipe out all his friends in seconds.</p><p>But they had fought Thanos and Ultron and Kang. They could do this.</p><p>Tony scrabbled through the odds and ends in the room, which was one of The Beyonder’s treasure rooms. Even Tony couldn’t do much with gold goblets and ropes of pearls. If he could make a gun, a slingshot -- if he could find even a stick ….</p><p>He jumped when there was a thump on the door. Then the handle rattled. Then a red-footed boot rammed through the wood.</p><p>“Tony?!” Steve shouted as he tore through the remains of the door. </p><p>“Steve,” Tony breathed out. </p><p>He’d hallucinated his friends before, a parade of ghosts floating through the workshop. But Steve was not a ghost now. He was swinging and holding Tony tightly against him, whispering I-love-yous.</p><p>“We have to go,” Tony croaked out. “The Beyonder --”</p><p>“I’m going to destroy --”</p><p>“Don’t -- we don’t have the weapons -- come back another day,” Tony insisted. His voice was rough and uneven.</p><p>Steve was alive. And right here, smiling at Tony. Tony felt giddy as joy washed over him. He wished desperately for armor so he could fight by Steve’s side.</p><p>“Right,” Steve replied.</p><p>They walked as fast they could through hallways and corridors. Steve found a wheeled chair for Tony to sit in. He pulled Tony behind him as they went to the rally point, a large, open pit. Tony guessed this had been the arena.</p><p>“Has anyone heard from Captain Marvel?” Steve yelled at the gathering Avengers. </p><p>“Quinjet’s coming in right now,” Sam shouted. </p><p>“I wouldn’t let you down, fellas,” Carol said over the quinjet loudspeakers. “Looks like you found Tony!”</p><p>“STOP,” The Beyonder commanded. “I DEMAND YOU STOP.”</p><p>The raiding Avengers ran up the ramp into the quinjet. Dr. Strange floated down next to Steve. “I can only hold him off so long. He’s incredibly powerful. I would need to know more -- he could be an elder of the universe.”</p><p>“Get Tony to safety --” Steve ordered.</p><p>“Not without you,” Tony begged. </p><p>Steve stopped short. “Okay. As soon as Strange gets on the ramp, we take off.”</p><p>Tony walked carefully into the main cabin, unprepared for all the happy greetings and love from all his friends and the new superheroes in their ranks. They were all a bit worse for wear from the raid on the citadel. He turned to Steve as he came up behind him.</p><p>“Medbay,” Steve said, pointing towards the side bay.</p><p>“I’m just tired, overworked and under-caffeinated,” Tony joked. He wanted to see Steve smile again. “Give me coffee, a couple of hours of sleep, and an Iron Man suit and I’ll be good to go.”</p><p>Steve glanced at Dr. Strange who had been covertly checking over Tony. “Verdict?”</p><p>“What he said.”</p><p>Steve gently traced the fading bruises on Tony’s neck. “These--”</p><p>“Don’t matter now,” Tony replied. “I need to sit.”</p><p>“Come here then,” Steve said. </p><p>Steve sat down on a seat and pulled Tony down beside him. Only then did Tony find himself relaxing, finally trusting that Steve was not a hallucination and would not disappear. “Where to next?” he asked.</p><p>“The Tower,” Steve said. He tucked a blanket someone gave him around Tony.</p><p>“Wait -- the Tower?” </p><p>“The Beyonder brought it to Battleworld. Just rest, Tony, you’re among friends now.”</p><p>Tony closed his eyes and leaned against Steve. He fell asleep listening to Steve’s strong heartbeat, a sound he never expected to hear again. The strong sound of home and love, the beating rhythm coursing through his body as he slept.</p>
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